Local TV Stations Booming From Super-PAC Windfall

For some strategically located TV stations, all those (mostly) negative campaign ads are helping create highly positive bottom lines.

Dale Woods, general manager of WHO-TV in Des Moines, always knew Christmas would arrive early this year. He just didn’t anticipate just how big it would be.

Every four years, the NBC affiliate in the state that kicks off the presidential nominating process enjoys a windfall of advertising as the candidates vie for the attention of the small slice of the population that shows up for the midwinter Iowa caucuses. This year’s bonus, however, is eye-popping. According to data compiled by Kantar Media’s Campaign Media Analysis Group (CMAG), political advertising in Iowa is up more than 300 percent over the 2012 campaign.

Money quote:

The TV stations love the extra super-PAC business, especially since the outside groups often pay some of the highest rates. That’s because they often place ads at the last minute, when rates are higher, and they’re not guaranteed the lowest rate available, as is required by law for actual candidates. Contracts on file with the Federal Communications Commission, for example, show Republican Jeb Bush’s campaign paying rates around $500 for a 30-second spot on WHO’s evening news show in January. For Right to Rise, meanwhile, the super-PAC supporting Bush is booked to pay seven times as much for a similar slot.

The ad went up on cable TV and the Internet as Mrs. Clinton prepares for the first Democratic presidential debate Tuesday in Las Vegas and continued to aggressively move to cast the email scandal as a political smear campaign orchestrated by House Republicans.

The spot:

What happens in Las Vegas obviously won’t stay there.

Item: BuzzFeed to create native video ads for candidates

Just what we need: Stealth marketing from the sneakiest people on earth.

BuzzFeed launches native video political advertising

BuzzFeed will begin creating native video ads for politicians and political causes, the website will announce Monday.

Rena Shapiro, most recently advertising director for Pandora, has been named vice president, Politics & Advocacy for BuzzFeed.

Shapiro will oversee native political ads, created in conjunction with BuzzFeed’s product and branded video teams from BuzzFeed Motion Pictures.

“BuzzFeed is the top place millennials and influentials are reading and sharing news, and with the smart and thoughtful reporting from BuzzFeed Politics, there is a huge demand for political and advocacy groups to tap into that audience. From our shareable videos to our social posts, there’s a massive opportunity and I can’t wait to get started,” Shapiro said in a statement.

We, on the other hand, would gladly wait.

Regardless . . .

Money quote:

It’s not the first time BuzzFeed has ventured into native ads for politicians. In 2012, the site hosted several native advertisements for candidates, which consisted of BuzzFeed-style articles. This will take things a step further and more akin to BuzzFeed’s successful Friskies cat food native ads.